To Hedgehog in a Hand Basket
by ghirahim
Summary: Thwarting Eggman's schemes seems to be Sonic's sole purpose in life, but when the evil genius decides to turn over a new leaf again, could this be another trick or is he serious? More importantly, how is Sonic supposed to spend his new found free time?


Disclaimer ~ I do not own the Sonic the Hedgehog series nor any of its characters and I will also take this opportunity to state that I make no money from writing.

A/N: I suppose this story has some spoilers from several games... mainly Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors.

Oh, like _'Case of the Missing Hedgehog'_ this story will feature the Sonic the Hedgehog comic characters.

* * *

><p>"<em>But the speed was power, and the speed was joy, and the speed was pure beauty."<br>-Richard Bach_

World renowned evil genius and scientist, Dr. Ivo Robotnik – better known as Dr. Eggman – stood atop a podium in front of several citizens of Station Square. "Citizens of Station Square, allow me to introduce myself. As you may, or may not, already know I am Dr. Eggman. I have come before all of you extending the olive branch of peace!"

The skeptical citizens looked and chatted amongst themselves as the doctor continued. "...Some of my recent, more pathetic failures at world domination have me thinking that perhaps I should redirect all this energy I have accumulated over the years..."

In a blink of an eye, Sonic came to an abrupt halt behind the massive crowd. The hedgehog whistled, "what's going on here? Is somebody giving something away?" A squirrel in the crowd turned to Sonic. "Ah, Sal. What's up?"

"I just got here myself but from what I've heard, it sounds like Eggman is quitting villainy."

"Again?" Sonic sighed, "he's not going to build another amusement park is he?"

"I don't think so. Listen for yourself." Both teens turned to the direction of Eggman on the podium.

"...And for those several aforementioned reasons, I have decided to give away all of my robots previously used for my nefarious deeds..."

"Robots, huh? Tails will have a field day—"

"Sonic!" Sally hissed, "you're not listening. Think of the damage someone could do with Eggman's robots!"

"Which is why we're giving them to Tails, he's a much better mechanic than Eggman." The squirrel facepalmed.

"We can't _possibly_ get—"

Sally glared at the gloved finger pressed against her lips, "don't worry about that. You forget I'm the fastest thing alive, I'll just take the robots."

"That's not setting a very good example!"

"What are you talking about? Stealing from a bad guy isn't a bad thing."

"What kind of logic is that? Stealing is wrong no matter who you steal from!"

"Hey Eggman!" One of the citizens in the front of the crowd shouted, "if you're really reformed lets see you show Sonic! You should have no problem seeing him if you're not evil anymore!"

"Ooh." The hedgehog began and before Sally could protest he sped up to the podium beside the doctor. "Yo!"

"Its Sonic~!" The crowd cheered.

Ever so slowly, Eggman turned to his former arch-rival who had the gall to stand there nonchalantly smirking at him. "So good to see you Sonic."

"Wish I could say the same."

"Sonic!" Sally yelled climbing atop the stage. "Don't you dare try and prove a point by antagonizing him!"

"But—"

"Don't throw your buts at me. If Dr. Eggman has truly reformed I believe that we all should give him the benefit of the doubt." The squirrel turned to the crowd. "Everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

The crowd collectively sighed dejectedly.

"You know Sal, if Eggman does turn out to be still evil I'm holding you completely responsible with your whole _'everyone deserves a second chance'_ speech."

"Fine." Grinning, the teens shook hands then Sally turned to Eggman. "Dr. Eggman, if you truly are reforming I propose that you give all of your robots and other mechanical ...things to Tails so that he could reprogram them for good, then he'll decide what to do afterwords."

"That is an excellent idea Princess."

Sally nodded. "Are you gonna make sure _all_ his mechanics go to Tails?"

"That fox isn't the only mechanized genius around!" A purple swallow gently landed down on the stage. "I could do a much better job reprogramming Eggman's robots for good."

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, uh... no offense, Wave, but you're not exactly 'good' yourself.

"My speedy little friend, just let my mechanics do the talking." Wave cracked her knuckles, "not only will I fix the robots better than your genetically abnormal compatriot but I'll do it faster."

"Yeah, right. So what's your beef with my best friend anyway? Mad because he kicked your ass twice already? Oh, I'm sorry, it was three times wasn't it?"

"Please. You and I know the first time didn't count; as for the second it was a fluke and the third time was pure luck. There will be fourth time for him." Wave extended her wings. "Tell _Miles_ that I'll be waiting at the Mystic Ruins for him – we'll have a robot fix off, the winner will decide the fate of Eggman's former robots." With that the swallow flew off.

"Miles? Who the hell is that?"

"You don't know your own best friend's first name?"

"Huh? Oh, right! No one ever calls him that so I guess I sort of forgot, besides he hates being called that."

"That's probably why she did it." Sally sighed, "oh! We didn't even ask if that was alright?"

"Its not a problem at all my dear." Eggman chuckled, "in fact I'll be the judge."

Sally and Sonic exchanged glances, "no... that won't be necessary."

— — — —

Tails slid out from under his biplane on a creeper recognizing the gentle whirring sound of Sonic approaching. Despite all they've been through together it was only approximately four years today that they met and became best friends; it may have only been four years but all the adventures and chaos they got themselves into made it seem like much longer.

A four-year-old Miles Prower was being teased by the other children due to his second tail when he saw a blue blur zoom by. Said blur knocked the kids over and Tails, mesmerized by such speed went after it. After searching for hours he found a biplane and became enthralled with it then fell asleep under it. When he awoke he saw the blue blur's true, _still_ form standing over what appeared to be his biplane.

The blur introduced himself as Sonic and the fox begrudgingly gave his given name of Miles. Sonic stated how his biplane was busted up for some reason or another and the fox eagerly jumped at the opportunity to fix it. He wasn't trying to show off or anything, he just wanted to repay the blur – uh... _Sonic_ – for his earlier assistance even if Sonic had no idea that he helped Tails out and was just running by.

When the plane was fixed Sonic thanked him then sped off. Before Tails knew what he was doing he was flying off with his tails a short distance behind from the blur ...until Sonic stopped suddenly and Tails rammed into him.

Sonic was amazed at the speed of such a small guy, claiming that no one ever kept up with him and as he was completely clueless when it came to technology asked Tails to come along with him. Sonic stated that he had no goal in mind, just drifted off wherever the wind took him and Tails accepted. Ever since then the two have been inseparable. Sonic even gave Tails his nickname, he may have had an intense irrational hatred of his given name but the fox wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of his appearance and because he used his tails like a propeller he was flagrantly teased ...well he was actually teased for having two tails to begin with but making good use of them made the kids tease him all the more.

"Yo. Hard at work as usual buddy?"

"Yeah. I just finished maintenance on the blue-orange viper... it needs a better name but he runs smoothly."

"_He_?"

"Yeah, I figured all the vehicles of transportation shouldn't be assigned to just one sex."

Sonic nodded then whistled, "you're covered in oil man." Blinking, Tails looked down at his appearance. His formerly pristine white lab coat was soiled with oil and grease, even his goggles had oil stains. Speaking of which, he propped those atop his head.

"These are just some of the badges of honor." Laughing, Sonic cheerfully patted his buddy on the back. "So, are we going to get something to eat to celebrate our friendship anniversary?"

"Hell yeah. Oh wait! Wave wants to meet you at the Mystic Ruins to have a robot fix off."

Tails tilted his head to the right, "what's that?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot how distracted your planes make you. Eggman decided to give up world domination."

"Again?"

"Again." Sonic sighed, "He had this whole speech prepared and everything on top of a podium, in front of a crowd in downtown Station Square. I guess to prove it _this time_ he's getting rid of all his robots."

"But those things alone are what make him so dangerous!"

"Bingo. I told Sal that you could easily fix them for good but Wave showed up and threw the gauntlet at ya."

"Okay... so what's at stake?"

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck "Bragging rights I guess." The hedgehog shrugged. "I'm sure you could fix them no sweat hell faster than I could get there and back."

"Thanks, you're the only one that would praise me so highly."

"Don't be so humble buddy, you're the best mechanic in the world _and beyond_. Don't sell yourself short." Blushing, Tails rubbed the back of his neck grimacing as some of the oil on his gloves got onto his neck. "Wanna lift or are you going to fly there in a biplane?"

"You'll probably get me there faster than the biplanes could. So, let me take a shower and wipe off this ...stuff first. Could you get all my tools?"

Sonic gave the fox the two-fingered salute. "Aye aye."

Whistling, Sonic began tottering around the workshop picking up various tools that his best friend used frequently. Because of his apparent carelessness when he ran, Tails forbade him from doing so in the workshop – things usually got strewn around which pissed the small fox off. Tails wasn't the short-tempered or overly hostile type but messing with his mechanics seemed to be his one and only berserk button; at least the only one Sonic knew of.

Some rustling made Sonic pause and turn toward the direction of the noise. At a mind numbly slow pacing, Sonic tip-toed over to a pile of boxes that haphazardly sprawled out in front of him. A small raccoon popped up from the wreckage. "I thought I was a goner!"

"Marine? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hm?" The raccoon looked up at Sonic. "Oh, hiya Sonic!" She waved slowly getting up from the pile. "I fell asleep in a box and I guess the box got sent here." Sonic facepalmed. "Where is Tails?"

"In the shower." Sonic sighed in relief, "for a second I thought Tails was hiding out girls in here."

"Well he is at that age."

"What? Don't rub your perversion out on my best friend! He's much too young!"

"I'm _younger_ than Tails!"

"That doesn't make you any less of a pervert!"

As the shower stopped running Sonic and Marine gasped. "We gotta clean this mess before Tails comes out." Sonic nodded moving Marine out of the pile then putting the boxes back the way there were. "If he's so small, how come his boxes are stacked so high?"

"Uh, because he can fly?"

"Oh... right, of course."

Sonic shook his head. In the four years since he met his flying companion the duo also interacted and befriended a slew of ..._interesting_ creatures; per example Ms. Marine the Raccoon. With the whole screwing of the time-space continuum Marine, Blaze, Silver and every other living being from that alternate time period and/or universe, ...or _any _alternate time zone, had access to this time and vice versa without any severe mental or physical setbacks. But that didn't make any of them any less crazy than they would be in their own time zone.

The orange fox stepped out of the bathroom clad in another pristine lab coat. "Oh. Hi Marine, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not entirely sure." She giggled. As Tails stared at her the hedgehog facepalmed.

"I got all your tools pal, lets go before any more unwanted guests show up."

"Uh, okay."

"How could you say that to my face Sonic?" The hedgehog sighed. "So, where are you two going do you mind if I tag along too?"

Sonic glanced at Tails who shrugged. "I guess we wouldn't mind but it'll be boring _and_ I'm a two-seater since I'm already taking Tails you'll have to find your own way there." Marine pouted. "Come on Tails lets book." The fox nodded picking up his toolbox hosting it over his shoulder. Sonic grabbed his best friend putting him on his back then sped off.

"Sonic!" Marine screamed as the duo disappeared.

— — — —

True to form, Wave stood at the Mystic Ruins beside her cronies, Storm and Jet, in front of a slew of Eggman's former robots. Sonic came to an abrupt halt in front of them and Tails jumped off with his toolbox handy. "Hi Wave—"

"Save the small talk junior, we came to have a competition." Tails frowned. "Now. I didn't bring that many guests because I didn't want to embarrass you too badly." Turning on her heels the swallow walked off toward the robots.

Sonic patted his best friend on the shoulder, "show her she's the one about to get embarrassed." Tails nodded walking to the robots as well.

"Okay!" Princess Sally began holding up a megaphone. "We're all here to witness the Mystic Ruins first ever robot fix off that Wave the Swallow has challenged M—_Tails _Prower to. The rules are simple: whichever competitor fixes the most amount or robots wins. Each of you are allowed one helper." Grinning, Sonic sped over to Tails side.

"No fair!" Wave yelled, "no one is as fast as Sonic—"

"Except on an extreme gear." Jet added smugly.

Sally held the megaphone away from her mouth to stare at the swallow. "Well, that is an unfortunate oversight but you have the option of Jet or Storm."

"Are you kidding me? These two don't know shit about fixing things!" The swallow threw her hands in the air in frustration.

"You could always forfeit."

Wave looked down glaring at Sonic's grinning face then paused. "Wait a minute..." She pointed at Sonic, "_he_ doesn't know anything about mechanics either, he may be fast but he's completely useless in this field. But that still leaves me with finding someone fast..." As the swallow began pacing back and forth Sonic shook his head.

Sonic wasn't about to tell Wave that he obviously picked up a few things in terms of mechanics from hanging around his best friend for four years. Sure, he wasn't anywhere near as good as Tails but he wasn't a complete novice.

"I need to make a phone call!" Wave yelled suddenly. Sally glanced at Sonic and Tails who shrugged before nodding back at Wave.

It was a silent few minutes until the swallow returned with Silver the Hedgehog beside her. The duo nodded at Sally who held the megaphone back up to her mouth. "Okay. As I said before, the competitor... the _team_ ...that fixes the most robots the fastest will be declared the winner. I want a good _**clean**_fix off, no screwing with the other team's equipment and no taunting." She glared at Sonic who shrugged casually. He wasn't planning on cheating but it was ridiculously easy to goad Silver into doing something wrong because of his short-temper.

"We'll start the competition in five minutes."

"Ah, more waiting." Jet sighed locking his hands behind his head. "I should have gotten something to eat before we came here."

"I know..." Storm agreed rubbing his stomach.

"Shut up, you ingrates." Wave huffed, "I need you two here for moral support." Jet nodded then clamped a hand over Wave's shoulder pulling her between himself and Storm.

"Why'd you get Silver?"

"Why else? He's got psychokinesis, he could transport things around as fast as Sonic could move. There really is no better choice out there. I called Blaze and she helped me locate him."

The trio looked over their shoulders at Silver casually chatting with Sally. It was no secret that the young hedgehog was ridiculously competitive so he was always willing to take on a challenge of any sort. He was similar to Sonic in that aspect but Silver's cocky attitude usually led to his failure.

"Alright." The hedgehog glided over to his teammate. "You're going down Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog gave the two-fingered salute not even bothering to turn around. Sally may have said taunting wasn't allowed but it was a taunt in itself to not bother responding – at least it was in Silver's eyes. Sonic smirked hearing the smaller hedgehog growl loudly.

Tails stared at his best friend suspiciously, "what did you do?"

"Who me? Why Tails I'm shocked you'd even think I did something." Sonic placed a hand on his spikes, "come on little buddy you know me better than anyone—"

"Which is why I know you're up to something." Tails countered handing Sonic a pair of goggles, "I know its impossible to even consider asking but do you think you can tone down the speed a little?"

"For you my friend, I'll tone it down more than just a little." Sonic put the goggles on nodding. "Say, Tails?" The fox glanced at him questionably. "Care to make a little wager of our own?"

"I'm listening..."

"I bet that I can deliver the robots to you as fast as you can fix them."

"You do realize that you move faster than the speed of sound, right?" Grinning, Sonic nodded. "That means you're faster than something that can move 343.2 metres per second or 1,236 kilometres per hour. So, in layman's terms, what you're suggesting is that I can fix things as fast as you can move?"

"Yup. Well no. What I'm trying to say is if I'm faster than the speed of sound, then you can fix these hunks of junk faster than the speed of light."

Tails whistled, "and all this time I thought you didn't listen to my sciency mumbo-jumbo." The fox sighed, "alright fine. I'll bet even though I'll probably lose."

Sonic patted him on the back, "its just a friendly bet man, the kind of thing that will give your confidence a much needed boost."

"Or a huge deflation."

"Must you be so negative?"

"Mechanics, to your robotics." Sally announced over the megaphone. "Ready? Go!"

With his psychokinesis Silver easily moved limbs and exteriors from a few of the robots allowing Wave to work on their interiors fixing their controls that were previously used for evil to that of a neutral aspect. Once she was completed he reattached them like new.

On the other side of the hill, Sonic quickly lined up dozens of robots letting Tails fix them without the need to dismantle them; as Tails fixed one Sonic would just bring another repeating the process until the whole line was finished.

"Wave, you're losing!" Jet yelled waving his arms around. Sighing, the hawk sat back against a rock. "Wanna get something to eat before she starts ranting? Or do you wanna help her out?"

"Hmm..." The albatross folded his arms over his chest, "neither of those choices sound good. I mean, I am hungry but Wave will kill us if we leave now and she'll kill us if we're caught helping her."

"Duh, then we won't get caught. As good as she is with mechanics that fox is a hell of a lot better and he's so damn humble which pisses her off even more."

"So, what you're saying is she needs to pick her battles better?" Jet nodded. "Wave can get a little arrogant but up until she met Tails she was the best so I suppose its understandable."

"Well... I mean, Eggman built these things right? So he's obviously the best when it comes to this sort of thing." Storm nodded slowly.

"Time to pick up the pace Silver."

"I'd love to but if I exhaust myself too much I won't be able to use my psychokinetic abilities at all."

"Done~" Sonic exclaimed patting the robot beside him, "and should you have any doubts in my best friend's abilities I will be honored to test out the robots." Without waiting for a response Sonic clapped his hands. "Robots, attack."

Sally, Wave, Silver, Jet and Storm all stared at the unmoving robots. "Should I have been more specific? Robots, attack those unfinished robots." Sally and the others stared at the robots near Sonic then stared at the ones beside Wave and Silver.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you attacking?"

"Invalid command." The robot replied.

"Hmm... then, robot, fix your robotic brethren."

"Command received." All of the robots charged toward Wave's pile fixing up the others.

"Oh, by the way Sal." The squirrel glanced over to the blue hedgehog. "I may not be a math expert but I'm pretty sure 4801 beats 4159."

Sally gaped at Sonic, "when could you have possibly counted all those robots?"

Sonic shrugged, "I did it before we started."

"You mean to tell me that little fox fixed close to 5000 robots in under five minutes!" Jet exclaimed.

"But Wave fixed over 4000, she was only six hundred something robots slower than him and only had forty left to fix." Storm nodded to himself, "that's pretty impressive."

Wave looked up at Tails standing in front of her smiling with his arm extended, "that was a great fix-off Wave."

Blushing slightly, she accepted the hand that pulled her up. "Yeah, yeah. I was pretty great but ...I guess you were better_ this time_." Sonic cleared his throat and Wave glared at him. "C-Congratulations." She muttered.

"Thanks. I-I couldn't have done it without Sonic and I guess I wouldn't have known I could do it if you hadn't challenged me."

"Stop being so mushy." Huffing, Wave folded her arms over her chest. "I don't challenge just anyone you know."

"Right..." Sonic clamped a hand on Tails' shoulder, "I'd hate to break this ...thing up but Tails and I have plans that you kinda already interrupted. Lets hit the pavement."

Tails nodded. "Not so fast Sonic." Wincing, he turned to Sally. "The robots are fixed, what to do with them?"

He glanced at Tails who shook his head, "donate them. I don't care."

"What? This whole thing was started because you were so adamant about giving the robots to Tails!"

"Yes, to fix, and now that he's fixed them so what else is he supposed to do with them?" Sally's right twitched. "Sonic!" She screamed as he sped off with Tails on his back.

—

Needless to say, running was Sonic's specialty; it was his hobby, his passion, the thing he was best known for and above all else it was the personification of his freedom. Some would even say it was Sonic's greatest strength and biggest weakness. But even for one who enjoyed running as much as Sonic did, kicking back with his best friend was just as enjoyable.

"Ah, the breeze feels great doesn't it?" Coming to an abrupt halt, Sonic flopped back onto the grass sighing contently as he rolled from side to side. Silently agreeing Tails sat down beside the hedgehog looking up at the sky. "What's wrong?" Sighing, he sat up looking at Tails who stared blankly at him. "You're not thinking about Eggman are you? We're supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the day. That's a deal breaker man; a complete mood killer!"

"Yeah... I know, its just – if Dr. Eggman has truly given up villainy what are we gonna do?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'what are we gonna do'? Its not like its our full-time job to stop the Eggster, granted no one seems to do it as well as we do but still now that we don't have to clean up after his messes we'll have a crapload of more free time. I've been meaning to time my record of circling the globe."

"_That's_ what I mean." Tails sighed flopping back. "Sonic, as your best friend, I'd hate to be the one to tell you this but you get rather ..._destructive_ when you're bored." Sonic gaped at him but Tails continued without missing a beat. "I agree with enjoying the free time as we don't know how long it'll last but you need to be somewhere that has a lot of things you can do so that your mind doesn't wander into dangerous territories."

"Dangerous? Is that any way to talk to a hero?" Tails glanced at him. "What? You can't exactly save the world without getting your hands dirty you know." Sighing, Sonic rubbed his spikes as the fox's stare didn't waver. "Alright, alright. I fold. Damn, you know me too well. Hm... so we just need to get somewhere with a lot of things, right? Somewhere with a lot of things...? Somewhere with a. Lot. Of. Things... I got it!" Grinning, Sonic fell back onto the grass beside Tails. "Lets go on vacation; we'll visit the Angel Islands. We haven't visited our old pal Knuckles in a while."

"Yeah... I don't think that's a good idea." Sonic turned to him, "you and Knuckles don't exactly see eye to eye often and I'd rather not play peacemaker when we're supposed to be on vacation."

"You know, you are way too young to be so negative Tails." Sonic chided tsking the fox, "its been months since we last crossed paths besides a true friend would inform our gullible buddy of Eggman's alleged retiring before he hears it from the horse's mustached mouth."

"Fine, but you have to promise me you won't start with Knuckles when we get there."

"Yeah I promise, but after we're already there I can't make any guarantees." Tails facepalmed. Sonic flipped onto his feet pulling Tails up with him. "Lets head to the Angel Islands!"

"Right. We'll take the blue-orange viper, he's due for a long distance test flight anyway."

"See?" Sonic nudged Tails grinning, "talk about a win-win; we're seeing how far your new plane can go and we're visiting an old friend. How could you even think something bad will come of this?"

Tails shrugged. "Personal experience, I guess."

The duo zipped back to Tails' workshop, via the Sonic express, to retrieve the blue-orange viper so they could head out to the Angel Islands. Sonic couldn't bear to put all the pressure on Tails having his best friend carry him above the water. It wasn't that Tails travel wasn't reliable because it was practically the best around. Tails flew them over some of the strangest places imaginable without breaking a sweat, the little guy was certainly talented but Sonic wanted the pilot to relax and enjoy the ride without worrying about Sonic slipping from his grasp. Besides, the weather around the Angel Islands was usually crazy and Tails was one hell of a astraphobic so flying around in thunder and lightning was a big no no – at least with the plane Sonic could take over if Tails got scared. Sonic had (more like demanded) Tails teach him how to fly a plane because of Tails's fear as they once nearly crashed during a thunderstorm because Tails let go of the wheel to cover his ears.

The fox was only eight, yes he was wise beyond his years although he did have his child like whimsy so it wasn't completely unheard of for him to have a couple of fears. He did seem to have a couple of miniscule fears but the only other thing aside from thunder and lightning he was irrationally afraid of was ghosts and who could blame him? They had quite a few paranormal adventures over the years.

"Hello Angel Islands!" Sonic screamed jumping out of the plane landing onto the lush grass below. Frowning, he turned back to Tails getting out of the plane. "Uh... so where is Knuckles exactly?"

Tails shrugged, "probably with the master emerald. Its not like he does anything else."

"True. Knucklehead is probably asleep near the emerald like always, I guess its a good thing he's such a light sleeper or he'd be screwed." Sonic stretched inhaling the crisp mountain air. "Ah, its been _ages_ since I've last been here. By the way, do you remember where that whole master emerald shrine is?" Tails shook his head. "No matter we'll just wing it. Come on."

Shrugging, the small fox followed suit aimlessly walking around the island. While walking Tails silently appreciated the beautiful scenery. The lush greenery, the lack of wildlife – wait a minute. The Angel Island was always filled with flickies and chao among other things.

"Check it out Tails, the sky sanctuary!" Tails grimaced following Sonic who was maintaining a moderately reasonable pace. He was all for ancient structures but these ruins never sat well with him. Whenever he tried to read some of the Angel Island's ancient texts from one of books left in the decaying a piece of the ceiling fell on him! No joke. Every. Single. Time!

Even remembering made his head hurt. Tails rubbed his head as they approached the ruins. "Oh!" Sonic yelled suddenly pointing west, "I'd recognize that scraggly form anywhere." Grinning, Sonic speed over in the direction he was pointing.

Sighing, Tails flew behind his best friend following the hedgehog through the forest stopping when they reached Knuckles standing near the edge of a cliff looking at the ocean.

"Don't jump, you have too much to live for!" Sonic yelled glomping on the echidna's back nuzzling their faces together.

Without warning the echidna flipped Sonic onto the grass below dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Sonic grinned at the glare he was on the receiving end of. "Heh, heh... hiya Knuckles."

"What are you doing here?"

"We're on vacation." Tails answered noticing that Knuckles hadn't exactly let up with his rather impressive judo throw. The echidna was also like an older brother/best friend to him and definitely a less destructive influence irrefutable gullibility aside. Sonic and Tails met Knuckles about a year after they met. Eggman had attempted to steal the master emerald but was caught by its protector, Knuckles, the doctor convinced Knuckles that Sonic was the enemy and he was merely trying to protect it.

When Sonic and Knuckles met a full-fledged war broke out, but that was to be expected from a short-tempered teen and a highly sarcastic one. Only after Knuckles saw that Eggman himself was the enemy, during his fight with Sonic, did the two join forces to take him down.

As the smoke cleared and the fighting was done Sonic extended the gloves of friendship to the echidna who refused. Even to this day with all the teaming up they did Knuckles never considered Sonic to be a 'friend' though he did seem friendly to Tails.

"Hey buddy?" Knuckles glanced down at him, "do you think I can get up? My back's starting to hurt." Sighing, Knuckles easily hoisted the hedgehog to his feet. "Thanks."

"What are you guys on vacation for? And why here?"

"What reason is there to take a vacation? And why here? Why not?"

"We're here because Eggman quit trying to take over the world! And I told Sonic not to come here but he didn't listen."

"You didn't tell me not to come here, you just said not harass Knuckles and I didn't. He's the one that flipped me."

"But you know how jumpy he gets."

"That's not my fault!"

"You jumped on him!"

"I thought he was going to jump off the cliff!"

Sonic and Tails, respectively, blurted out simultaneously. "Stop! Stop!" Knuckles screamed causing them both to stare at him. "One at a time! Tails, you first."

"Oh. I said, Eggman claims to retire from his megalomaniac ways!"

"And _I_ said, why shouldn't we vacation here? Its nice and quiet and there are lots of things to do." Sonic nodded to himself. "Then we started talking about how you just assaulted me. You're lucky I don't press charges."

Knuckles glanced between Tails and Sonic, "you said Eggman did what?"

"Stopped being a villain." Sonic replied, "Tails you know you need to dumb things down for Knux."

Sonic put his arm around Knuckles who almost immediately knocked it off, "and what makes you so damn smart?"

"Uh? Only because my best friend is a genius?" Blushing slightly, Tails rubbed the back of his neck. "Now we figured we'd tell you before Eggman came and tried to tell you something different. We're still on the fence about his sudden retirement and decided to give you a heads up."

"Knuckles, I noticed the island seems more secluded than usual." Before Sonic even opened his mouth Tails covered it. Stopping Eggman might not have been Sonic's profession but he would willingly admit his main occupation was to harass the hell out of Knuckles whenever the opportunity arose. But that could have just been in Sonic's spitefully masochistically teasing nature – Knuckles might not have been the only creature Sonic took a shine to teasing but he was clearly the one he bothered the most and it wasn't just Sonic that blatantly harassed the poor echidna either.

"Hmm... now that you mention it I have been enjoying a few days of peace, but this couldn't have anything to do with Eggman could it?"

"It could." Tails frowned, "but the we have to see if the times match up. Eggman just quit being a villain a few hours ago and you said there hasn't been a chao or flicky for days. Its possible that Eggman thought out this plan beforehand and just started his follow through. On the other hand, this entire thing could be completely coincidental and have nothing to do with Eggman at all!"

At Sonic's muffling Tails released his mouth, "which is what I've been trying to tell you all along! Lets do ourselves a favor and not obsess over Eggman, alright? Aside from the fact that its not all that ...interesting in the slightest its also not normal. We'll run ourselves ragged thinking this way." Knuckles and Tails exchanged glances before looking at Sonic, "so its agreed? No more talking about ...you know who?"

Tails glanced at Knuckles who shrugged, "yeah. Fine, whatever."

"A-Alright, but—"

"No, no, no. I don't want to hear it! No Eggman, no death egg, not even scrambled eggs! Well, the last one is fine but that's it. Shall we shake on it?" Sighing, Knuckles put his hands on top of Sonic's then Tails put his hands on Knuckles'. "Good, its agreed... again. I plan on enjoying this vacation to the fullest!"

"Right, about this vacation ...exactly how long will it last?" Sonic glanced over at the echidna, paused for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Seriously?"

"What's the point of worrying about the days? An unplanned vacation is the best type of vacation!" Sonic rubbed his stomach, "speaking of which a vacation just isn't a vacation without chilidogs."

"Its not like chilidogs grow on trees Sonic! You should have brought them here before you came."

Sonic sighed, "I had a feeling you'd say that so luckily I came prepared. Show the man our fare buddy." Tails saluted. As he was still donned in the lab coat from the robot fix-off he pulled out a capsule from his left pocket showing it to Knuckles.

"We have freeze dried and we have the frozen kind."

Knuckles stared at the small fox. "I see... so you don't have anything cooked?"

"Uh—I, hm, let's see... no. But Station Square isn't too far so we could always fly to get what we need. But if we're talking vacation like can't go back I did make this plane with some pretty 'sick' modifications." Knuckles couldn't help but stare when Tails air quoted the term sick, clearly he was hanging around Sonic too much – it was only a matter of time before he started breezing through other people's lives without a care in the world too.

If they truly were here to get away for who knows how long, Knuckles had to make sure he imparted some wisdom onto his young friend. He was clearly a better influence than Sonic could ever hope to be! Tails was already a genius when it came to books and whatnot but Knuckles was street smart so he'd teach Tails a thing or too about survival on what nature provided instead of that high-tech mumbo-jumbo Sonic made him dependent on.

"Tails, if I may? Why not forage for food?"

"F-Four-age? What's that?"

"He wants you to hunt." Sonic replied folding his arms behind his head.

"H-Hunt? But why?" Knuckles flinched as Tails looked up at him with by far the cutest expression the fox was capable of: his head was tilted slightly, his eyes widened considerably and his mouth appeared to be quivering somewhat.

"W-Well... i-if you're going to be here you might as well taken in all it has to offer. You know, camping and hunting and all that other stuff."

"So what you're saying..." Sonic interrupted, "was that we should see how you live day to day? And when we see and dislike it we're welcome to do things are own way?"

"I didn't say that at all!"

"Look, if you're so crazy about us seeing what nature has to offer I don't see why you can't do things our way."

"What us? I was talking to Tails." Knuckles sighed, "whatever. I'm all about fairness so its fine. First we'll do things your way then we'll survive on the land. After we've done both we can decide which we prefer and do that."

"That sounds doable." Grinning, Sonic and Knuckles shook hands. "Let the vacationing begin."


End file.
